Perfectly Roasted Chicken: Learn the Method

There are some recipes I almost hesitate to call recipes.

This is one of them~

Roasted chicken doesn't need twelve ingredients, an elaborate marinade, or a particularly impressive spice cabinet. At its simplest, you need chicken, fat, salt, pepper, heat~ and an understanding of what each one is doing.

That's really what I want recipes at Hansheng's Kitchen to be about.

Learn the method, and eventually you won't need the recipe~! (At least for some things.) 

The chicken you make when you don't know what to make

I've cooked some version of this chicken more times than I could possibly count.

Sometimes it's dinner exactly as it comes out of the oven. Often times sliced it over rice. Occasionally~ it goes into salads, sandwiches, wraps, noodles, or whatever I'm throwing together from what's already in the refrigerator.

And the seasoning changes constantly.

Garlic and herbs? Sure.

Paprika and ground coriander? Absolutely.

Five-spice? Go for it~! 

Ginger, scallion, and white pepper? You already know where this is going~ 

There is no point in finding the one sacred combination of seasonings that makes roasted chicken “correct.”

The point is learning how to make good chicken, and then making it taste like whatever you want that day.

Salt is doing more than making it salty~

If you have the time, season your chicken ahead.

Even twenty minutes gives the salt some time to get to work. Leave it seasoned in the refrigerator longer and you're essentially giving the chicken a simple dry brine.

That's why I'll happily season chicken a day or two before I plan to cook it. It's not extra work~ it's work I already don't have to do tomorrow.

And that is my favorite kind of meal prep.
If you don't have twenty minutes?

Cook the chicken.

Dinner does not need to be postponed because you "failed" to ceremonially introduce your chicken to the refrigerator yesterday.

Butter or olive oil?

Either or both~

Butter gives you richness and that unmistakable buttery roasted flavor. Olive oil is easy, versatile, and plays nicely with practically whatever seasonings you decide to throw at it.

The fat also helps your seasoning coat the surface evenly and encourages better browning.

This is one of those places where understanding the job of an ingredient matters more than following my exact choice.

350°F and leave it alone

I like 350°F because we're not trying to assault the chicken into submission.

We're giving it enough heat to roast while keeping the process forgiving, particularly with thicker pieces.

Start checking around the 25–30 minute mark, but don't treat a cooking time printed on the internet as gospel. Two pounds of chicken can mean several small pieces or a couple of absolute units. Ovens vary. Thickness varies. Bone-in and boneless chicken behave differently.

Temperature tells you what the clock can't.

For this recipe, pull out your meat thermometer and check the thickest part of the chicken without touching bone. You're looking for 165°F (74°C) for a straightforward, food-safe endpoint.

If you cook regularly and don't own an instant-read thermometer yet, that's one kitchen tool I genuinely think earns its drawer space.

Then make it yours

This is the part I actually care about~!!! 

Once you understand the basic method, stop making my chicken.

Make yours.

Use the herbs growing outside. Use the spice blend sitting neglected in the cabinet. Add lemon. Add ginger. Add garlic. Reach for chili crisp. Brush it with something sweet toward the end. Change the flavor depending on what you're serving beside it.

Cooking gets considerably more enjoyable when recipes stop being commandments and start becoming frameworks.

That's part of why I started Hansheng's Kitchen in the first place.

I don't want to give you 400 hyper-specific recipes that require buying 400 sets of ingredients.

I'd rather give you techniques you can carry into the kitchen over and over again.
And perfectly roasted chicken is a damn good place to start.

Here is my recipe for my Classic Roasted Chicken 

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Hansheng's Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 lbs chicken breast or thighs
• 4 Tbsp olive oil or 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Black Pepper
• 1 Tsp Ground Coriander
• 1 Tsp Paprika
• 1 Tsp Rosemary
  
• 1 Tsp Parsley
• 1 Tsp Marjoram
• 1 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 Tsp MSG (Optional) 

You can also add whatever mix of herbs and spices you want. The key is the cooking and the seasoning coming together.

Method

1. Salt and pepper the chicken on all sides.
2. Rub butter or olive oil on all sides and keep seasoning evenly.
3. Marinate in a container in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, or up to 2-3 days. Or skip the marinade and put it straight on a baking sheet into a 350ºF oven.
4. Roast 25-30 minutes before you start checking.
5. With a meat thermometer, it's done at 165ºF internal.